.380 question....
Why is .380 ammo so expensive and so hard to find? I had inherited a Makarov that I sold over the past winter, to one of my co-workers, and I threw in a bunch of ammo. He recently told me he is having a hard time finding ammo for it. I checked several sites, and it appears I should have sold him the bullets and thrown in the Makarov!
What gives?
What gives?
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Cause it was not in very high demand so only so much made/year.
Then there was a sudden rush on ALL ammo and 2 companies came out with high selling .380 pistols in a 1 year time frame.
Production is catching up.0 -
Have you been in a coma for the last 10 months? It's been like that since nobama got elected. There has been a panic with hoarding and scalping of guns, ammo & reloading components. Hopefully it will start to subside in time, but it's still crazy out there. If he can even get his hands on .380 ammo, figure it going to cost him 100% to 200% more, then when our saviour was elected. 0 -
Nope, no coma Rufe....but thanks for inquiring about my health. I simply don't pay attention to calibers/ammo that I don't have an interest in. Just curious and hoping to better understand the firearms world today.
Mike.0 -
I just picked up 4 100 round boxes at WalMart for $35.97 per box and my local gun shop had some too. Looks like things are getting better. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by 82trooper
Why is .380 ammo so expensive and so hard to find? I had inherited a Makarov that I sold over the past winter, to one of my co-workers, and I threw in a bunch of ammo. He recently told me he is having a hard time finding ammo for it. I checked several sites, and it appears I should have sold him the bullets and thrown in the Makarov!
What gives?
First of all, just to be clear, 9mm Makarov ammo is NOT the same at .380 ammo. Makarov is 9x18mm and is a bit more powerful than .380ACP (which also goes by the names 9x17mm, and 9mm short, etc).
Right now, for what its worth, Makarov ammo is probably more readily available than .380.
The reason .380 ammo is super-expensive and in short supply is multifactorial:
a. Right now *ALL* ammo is in short supply now as there has been unprecedented demand in the wake of the Obama election. The reasons for that are complicated, but come down to massive ammo hoarding by people afraid that the Obama administration is going to ban/tax ammo, and also because of fears of increasing crime and civil unrest due to the growing recession.
People like Pruss buying out the entire supply at Walmart at once don't help here! [;)][;)]
After 8 months of scarcity, I think there are finally some signs of things opening up a little, with otherwise unavailable calibers starting to be more available now, and prices dropping a hair.
b. With the ever-increasing popularity of concealed carry, and especially super-light pocket pistols like the Kel-Tec 3-AT and its Ruger clone, .380 ammo in particular has skyrocketed in popularity.
Its not that these guns are new (the Kel-Tec 3AT, for example, has been around for five years now, and the Walther PPK for 40 years), but that all of a sudden record numbers of people with no prior interest in guns are actually carrying them.
.380 ACP is simply more popular than ever before, and the supply hasn't caught up to the demand.
c. I've heard (but can't confirm) that the manfacturers use the same machinery for loading 9mm luger as .380ACP, and they've been running the presses at full speed to turn out as much 9mm luger as possible. I don't know if this is true, but the story is that they just don't want to stop the machines to switch over the dies to .380.0 -
darn you guys got to watch the action side!! I've been selling a bunch for around 20 per box or less for UMC , Blazer etc. I don't have a lot but I'm sure I sold 10-20 boxes or so. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by golferboy426
darn you guys got to watch the action side!! I've been selling a bunch for around 20 per box or less for UMC , Blazer etc. I don't have a lot but I'm sure I sold 10-20 boxes or so.
Well, if you can find any on the shelves (which you probably can't) Walmart has the stuff in 100 round boxes for under $40 per box. You might find similar prices at other big retailers (eg Dick's, etc).
So *IF* the supply were otherwise normal, that's the price you might expect to pay.
Also note that Walmart and the other places probably COULD keep the stuff in stock, *IF* they were willing to charge what the market could bear (eg $30+ per box). Its to their credit that they aren't doing that.
In terms of internet auctions, there is plenty of product out there to be bought, its just not cheap, that's all.
If you are willing to buy on the internet (and not everyone is), you also have to figure shipping and handling costs, which can be considerable with ammo.
Paying an extra $7 - 10 to ship a $20 box of ammo doesn't make sense for most people, but that's what many of the sellers are asking.
$20 cost to ship a CASE of ammo might make more sense, but I think the average buyer doesn't want to invest $200+ for a full case of .380 ammo, particularly in today's economy.0 -
As stated earlier, everything is short. Any handgun ammo and 22LR at Walmart is impossible to get and they limit the number of boxes you can purchase at one time. 0 -
I hope you don't actually shoot 380 in a Makarov. 0 -
Were there not some double stack Mak copies called the IJ-70, that were imported in the 380 ACP? It was before the 1994 ban...I sold a couple.
So yes...there were some Maks made in 380 ACP or 9mm Kurtz.
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That's why we RELOAD - RELOAD - RELOAD - RELOAD!!!!!!!!! 0 -
Thanks to all for the input...i will pas it along.
Mike0
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